creative possibilities in data visualization and networked art

Creative Possibilities in Data Visualization and Networked Art

Diego [email protected] Faculty of Information and Communication Studies UP Open University

Visualization of del.icio.us tags is courtesy of kaeru on Flickr.com and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. I assert that any use of copyrighted images in this presentation constitutes acceptable use because they are low-resolution copies, do not limit in any way the copyright owners to sell the images or products they

represent, are identified and referenced clearly, and are used only to illustrate arguments central to this presentation.Non-copyrighted portions of this presentation are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines License.

www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/sst-sem2-2009

Overview

Visualizing Data: Making Sense of an Information-Rich World




Biomodd [LBA2]Ecology + Gaming + Installation Art + Community

Interested?

www.biomodd.net `

THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT

A quick backgrounder on meGrowing up, I wanted either to compose film music or study the cosmos. In

college, I became a computer geek who studied contemporary dance.

Art, science, and positive social change have always been important to me.www.diegomaranan.com/CV

IN TER R UP T T HI S

TA L KAT

A N Y T IM E

(I don't mind)

What data visualization isExamples: 1

General FeaturesExamples: 2

CaveatsExamples: 3Now what?

data visualization isa particular way of doing

information design

“ Information design tells a story with pictures.

It can tell “how many?” “when?” or “where?”

It can show trends over time, compare elements or reveal hidden patterns.

It brings form and structure to information.

It is not the same as graphic design, nor is it only about making something aesthetically pleasing.

It is not about branding, style, making a glossy product or something that looks “corporate.”

From John Emerson. (2008, January). Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. Tactical Technology Collective. Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

From John Emerson. (2008, January). Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. Tactical Technology Collective. Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

“ Clear

It makes complex information easier to understand.

Compelling

Visuals grab people’s attention.

Convincing

People who might not be persuaded by raw numbers or statistics may be more likely to understand and believe what they see in a chart or graphic.

The US news media dedicates a disproportionate amount of attention

to stories about the US and Iraq.

Alisa Miller. (2007). Why we* know less than ever about the world, TED2008. Monterey, California. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_about_the_news.html. * “we” = “Americans”, of course.

The world map redrawn according to the number of seconds US network and cable news organizations devoted to news items for each country in February 2007.

In 2006, only the US, the UK, and Israel did not support “an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East.”

Belfast Telegraph (2006, July), reproduced by John Emerson in Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. (2008, January). Tactical Technology Collective.

Between August and September 2007, over 60 demonstrations were staged

across Myanmar in response to oppressive state policies.

Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. Map of demonstrations August-September 2007 - ALTSEAN Burma. ALTSEAN-BURMA. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.altsean.org/Photogalleries/ProtestsMap.php.

Details of each demonstration are filed on Google Maps.

The US is the leading an economic superpower.

Froz Gobo. (2007, June 27). Much Better. apostropher.

Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://www.apostropher.com/blog/archives/003827.html. See also http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/131-us-states-renamed-for-countries-with-similar-gdps/

The names of US states have been replaced with countries that have similar GDPs.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is long and complex. It is made up of countless

individuals who each have a story to tell.

Just Vision. Timeline. Just Vision. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://justvision.org/en/timeline.

An interactive and “subjective history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict composed of historical and personal events” as recounted by participants of the project.

Every community defines a concept in its own way.

UP Open University. "What is Multimedia?" MMS100: Introduction to Multimedia Studies (1st Semester, 2008). Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://sites.google.com/a/upou.edu.ph/mms100/course-outline/sfg987srtew4rtf/whatismultimediaresults.

There's a lot of heartache out there.Golan Levin, Kamal Nigam, & Jonathan Feinberg. (2006, February 14). The Dumpster. Retrieved May 3,

2008, from http://www.tate.org.uk/netart/bvs/thedumpster.htm.

`

When it happened

Someone blogging

about getting dumped

How they felt about it

(Generally, not good)

whoa

Powerful interests are connected through complex networks of

influence that significantly affect US public policy around climate change.

Users can construct their own maps by placing, removing, and rearranging institutions and individuals associated with claims that anthropogenic climate change is not a cause for concern. The interface allows users to explore for themselves relationships between the petroleum industry, various think tanks, and the US government.Greenpeace. Exxon Secrets. Exxonsecrets.org. Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://www.exxonsecrets.org/maps.php.

The world is increasingly connected.

Walter Rafelsberger. (2008). Twitter Conversations Map. visualcomplexity.com. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cfm?id=600&index=600&domain=.

“This visualization [...] using Processing shows the conversations of about 1500 users from the microblogging service Twitter. The arcs [...] link the locations of users who talk to each other. The geocoding was done filtering location info from the users profile pages and looking it up with Geonames.”

`

Simplifies

MAKING SENSE OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS CHARACTERIZED BY LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA

Uncovers complexity

CHALLENGING STEOREOTYPES AND “SIMPLISTIC EITHER-ORS”*

Uncovers complexity, but then identifies hidden patterns

CREATING MAJOR SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS

HOW A VISUALIZATION FACILITATES LEARNING

`

Interactive

PERMITS GRADUAL DISCLOSUREGOOD FOR UNCOVERING COMPLEXITYUSERS ARE IN CONTROL OF THEIR LEARNINGDESIGN SHOULD IMPLY PROMISE OF NEW DISCOVERIESGENERALLY REQUIRES MORE SOPHISTICATED

AUTHORING TOOLSGENERALLY MORE DIFFICULT TO MAKE

Non-interactive

INSTANTANEOUS LEARNING GRATIFICATIONSUITABLE FOR SIMPLIFYINGDESIGNER CONTROLS DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATIONMORE CONVENTIONAL AUTHORING TOOLS ARE USUALLY

SUFFICIENTGENERALLY EASIER TO MAKE

USER INTERACTIVITY

`

Very large or very small values

Unexpected relationships

Unusual statistical distributions

WHAT THEY REVEAL

`

Uses (or could use) data that changes over time

USER-GENERATED CONTENTSYSTEMS THAT CONTINUOUSLY AND AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE DATA

Data remains fixed

DATA SOURCES

`

Desktop publishing programsMS WORD, MS EXCEL, OPEN OFFICE

Image editing and layout softwareADOBE PHOTOSHOP, ADOBE INDESIGN, COREL

Web 2.0 tools aimed for “average” web userGOOGLE MAPS, MANY EYES

Specialized design tools FLASH, COURSELAB, SOCIAL ACTION

Highly specialized, highly flexible visualization authoring toolsPROCESSING, VVVV, VTK

TOOLS USED TO AUTHOR THEM

Can represent data that changes over time

Draws reader in through the power of design: “It must

be important”

Interactivity supports user-centered learning

Mapping Glovalization Projecthttp://qed.princeton.edu/main/MG

The Internet on Jan 16, 2005www.opte.org

Social Networks (1)

Social networking

My facebook networkgenerated using http://nexus.ludios.net

Social Networks: Linking Subgroups in my network

orphaned nodes and subgroups

nodes connecting subgroups

Open Source Dancehttp://www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/open-source-dance-presentation/

Building dance communities through sharing Creative Commons-licensed choreography and tracking the flow of choreographic

ideas across dance communities

Visualizing Philippine Cinema

http://www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/proposal-for-a-portal-to-philippine-cinema-using-data-visualization-techniques-presentation/

Facilitating insights into independent cinemas in the Philippines (but can be extended easily to cover global cinemas) using data publicly available on the web and data visualization techniques

The Apology Projecthttp://sites.google.com/site/diegomarananprojects/todo/on-hold/The-Apology-Project

A Web 2.0 site for public apologies

Open Source DanceThe Apology Project

Visualizing Philippine Cinema

ANOTHERADVERTISEMENT

Web developers needed!

Visualizing data is not an unproblematic activity.

Methods used

IN GENERATING AND COLLECTING DATA,

IN CHOOSING APPROPRIATE VISUAL ELEMENTS,

OR IN DISSEMINATING A VISUALIZATION

can be subject to debate.

● Data visualization assumes the presence of data

● Broad strokes might miss important details (which is why interactivity is important)

● All the visual cleverness might eventually become tiring. (“I'm skeptical of shapes.”)

But work in data visualization can be an interdisciplinary activity, where

experts

IN DESIGN,

IN EDUCATION,

IN SOCIAL SCIENCE,

AND IN TECHNOLOGY

contribute best practices in the spirit of free inquiry, openness, and trust.

Visualizing data is not an unproblematic activity.

But that's OK.

(Visualizing Noli)(Hans Rosling)(Chris Jordan)

Thanks to Ed Maranan for helping me out with this

Tons of examples on www.visualcomplexity.com and processing.org/exhibition

● Collaboration and Productivity, Onboarding, Training

● Archiving● Basic Education● Raising the cool factor of your web presence● Maximing your investment on the web

presence by understanding user behavior on your website

● Grassroots advocacy, activism, information campaigns

● Personal use: Coping with information overload

● ++

When you want to say something radically different, or when you uncover information that is potentially dangerous to the status quo,

say what you want to say in the most aesthetically stunning, quantitatively sound way possible.

1) Join the Information Design for Social Change email list.groups.google.com/group/disenyo

2) Try it yourself. Graph your social network on Facebook on www.nexus.ludios.net. Or try out Many Eyes: www.manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes

3) Read up more about it on the Web: www.delicious.com/dmaranan/visualization

4) Read books and journal articles about data visualization:wednesdaysmnlove.blogspot.com/2008/10/list-of-readings.html

5) Go to a school that teaches you more about it.Look for buzzwords like Aesthetic Technologies, Computational Aesthetics, Computational Design, Information Design

Visualizing Data: Making Sense of an Information-Rich World




Biomodd [LBA2]Ecology + Gaming + Installation Art + Community

Interested?

www.biomodd.net `

LAST REMINDER!

“Good art renders the invisible, visible.”